State Police Refuse To Testify On 2 Crashes

Pennsylvania State Police have refused to testify at a state Senate hearing Monday in Montgomery County, a police spokesman said yesterday.

The hearing is to examine turnpike accident procedures following two fatal crashes on the Northeast Extension last year.

Both accidents occurred when heavy vehicles plowed into cars that were stopped on the turnpike, waiting for earlier accidents to be cleared. Seven people were killed in the two accidents.

A subcommittee of the Senate Transportation Committee is conducting the hearing, chaired by Montgomery County Sen. Edwin G. Holl, R-24th District.

The hearing begins at 1 p.m. Monday in the Upper Gwynedd Township Building.

State police, who patrol the turnpike and were involved in both accident clean-ups, fear their testimony could be used against them if they are sued as a result of the accidents, said Capt. Paul Woodring.

"Because there's the potential for litigation . . . we think that a public hearing is the inappropriate forum to . . . go through the specifics of the accidents," Woodring said.

Woodring said he isn't aware of any suits from the accidents, but that "usually in fatal accidents there's always litigation."

Holl said he was "not alarmed" to learn of the state police decision.

Monday's hearing won't be the last, Holl said. He said he would try to convince police to testify at a later hearing.

In the meantime, "we have a full schedule with the local people," Holl said.

Four area rescue workers and a representative of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission are scheduled to testify.

The subcommittee -- which includes Bucks County Sen. H. Craig Lewis and Montgomery County Sen. Stewart J. Greenleaf -- was authorized by a Dec. 13 resolution that was unanimously passed by the Senate.

The subcommittee does not have subpoena power. If it did, Holl could have forced police to testify.

"We didn't put it (subpoena power) in the resolution because we didn't think we'd need it," said Holl. He said he is "reviewing the possibility" of reconsidering that omission.

The first accident was July 22 in Towamencin Township. Five people were killed when a tractor-trailer struck a line of cars. The cars were stopped, waiting for an earlier accident to be cleared.

The second occurred on Oct. 14 in Whitpain Township. Two people were killed when an Atlantic City-bound bus rear-ended a line of stopped cars.

Both accidents were south of the Lansdale interchange.

"I drive that turnpike twice a week," Holl said. "It's a straight, level, flat highway . . . where you don't have blind areas and sharp curves. You can see a mile ahead of you.

"That being the case," he said, "what happened?"

State police and the National Transportation Safety Board are also investigating the accidents. The NTSB probe is not finished, said Frank Ghiorsi, regional director of the NTSB at Kennedy Airport in New York City.

Information on the state police investigation could not be obtained yesterday or Thursday.